Since the Local Government Act 2000, new structures and methods of working have been introduced to deliver more efficient and responsive decision-making. This report describes many of the choices and dilemmas faced by local authorities. In the spirit of the legislation, the policy recommendations take into account local variations in cabinets, overview and scrutiny functions, […]

In response to the Local Government Act 2000, all local authorities are assessing and changing their political management structures. The ‘leader and cabinet’ model is one of the three executive options from which local authorities with populations of 85,000 or over will have to select, following consultation with the local population.

Although some councils have […]

Central government is soon set to reform local government finance. The current system, where 96% of tax is raised centrally, cannot sustain an effective local political system capable of delivering public services tailored to local conditions.
This report steers a middle ground between utopian demands for an autonomous local government and the centralisation that has […]

This report, commissioned by Initial Education Personnel, takes a snapshot of local authorities with education services in the process of carrying out Best Value reviews. It examines examples of good practice and contains practical information and action points that other authorities engaged in reviews of their education services will find highly valuable.

Best Value in Education […]